Isaiah 51

1 Here ye me, that suen that that is iust, and seken the Lord. Take ye hede to the stoon, fro whennys ye ben hewun doun, and to the caue of the lake, fro which ye ben kit doun.

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek YHWH: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

2 Take ye heede to Abraham, youre fadir, and to Sare, that childide you; for Y clepide hym oon, and Y blesside hym, and Y multipliede hym.

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

3 Therfor the Lord schal coumforte Sion, and he schal coumforte alle the fallyngis therof; and he schal sette the desert therof as delices, and the wildirnesse therof as a gardyn of the Lord; ioie and gladnesse schal be foundun therynne, the doyng of thankyngis and the vois of heriyng.

For YHWH shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of YHWH; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4 Mi puple, take ye heede to me, and, my lynage, here ye me; for whi a lawe schal go out fro me, and my doom schal reste in to the liyt of puplis.

Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

5 My iust man is nyy, my sauyour is gon out, and myn armes schulen deme puplis; ilis schulen abide me, and schulen suffre myn arm.

My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

6 Reise youre iyen to heuene, and se ye vndur erthe bynethe; for whi heuenes schulen melte awei as smoke, and the erthe schal be al to-brokun as a cloth, and the dwelleris therof schulen perische as these thingis; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse schal not fayle.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

7 Ye puple, that knowen the iust man, here me, my lawe is in the herte of hem; nyle ye drede the schenschipe of men, and drede ye not the blasfemyes of hem.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

8 For whi a worm schal ete hem so as a cloth, and a mouyte schal deuoure hem so as wolle; but myn helthe schal be withouten ende, and my riytfulnesse in to generaciouns of generaciouns.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

9 Rise thou, rise thou, arm of the Lord, be thou clothyd in strengthe; rise thou, as in elde daies, in generaciouns of worldis. Whether thou smytidist not the proude man, woundidist not the dragoun?

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of YHWH; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

10 Whether thou driedist not the see, the watir of the greet depthe, which settidist the depthe of the see a weie, that men `that weren delyuered, schulden passe?

Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

11 And now thei that ben ayenbouyt of the Lord schulen turne ayen, and schulen come heriynge in to Syon, and euerlastynge gladnesse on the heedis of hem; thei schulen holde ioie and gladnesse, sorewe and weilyng schal fle awei.

Therefore the redeemed of YHWH shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

12 `Y my silf schal coumforte you; what art thou, that thou drede of a deedli man, and of the sone of man, that schal wexe drie so as hei?

I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

13 And thou hast foryete `the Lord, thi creatour, that stretchide abrood heuenes, and foundide the erthe; and thou dreddist contynueli al dai of the face of his woodnesse, that dide tribulacioun to thee, and made redi for to leese. Where is now the woodnesse of the troblere?

And forgettest YHWH thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 Soone he schal come, goynge for to opene; and he schal not sle til to deth, nether his breed schal faile.

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

15 Forsothe Y am thi Lord God, that disturble the see, and the wawis therof wexen greet; the Lord of oostis is my name.

But I am YHWH thy Elohim, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: YHWH of hosts is his name.

16 Y haue put my wordis in thi mouth, and Y defendide thee in the schadewe of myn hond; that thou plaunte heuenes, and founde the erthe, and seie to Sion, Thou art my puple.

And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Be thou reisid, be thou reisid, rise thou, Jerusalem, that hast drunke of the hond of the Lord the cuppe of his wraththe; thou hast drunke `til to the botme of the cuppe of sleep, thou hast drunke of `til to the drastis.

Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of YHWH the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

18 Noon is that susteyneth it, of alle the sones whiche it gendride; and noon is that takith the hond therof, of alle the sones whiche it nurshide.

There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

19 Twei thingis ben that camen to thee; who schal be sori on thee? distriyng, and defoulyng, and hungur, and swerd. Who schal coumforte thee?

These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

20 Thi sones ben cast forth, thei slepten in the heed of alle weies, as the beeste orix, takun bi a snare; thei ben ful of indignacioun of the Lord, of blamyng of thi God.

Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of YHWH, the rebuke of thy Elohim.

21 Therfor, thou pore, and drunkun, not of wyn, here these thingis.

Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

22 Thi lordli gouernour, the Lord, and thi God, that fauyt for his puple, seith these thingis, Lo! Y haue take fro thyn hond the cuppe of sleep, the botme of the cuppe of myn indignacioun; Y schal not leie to, that thou drynke it ony more.

Thus saith thy the Master, YHWH, and thy Elohim that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

23 And Y schal sette it in the hond of hem that maden thee low, and seiden to thi soule, Be thou bowid that we passe; and thou hast set thi bodi as erthe, and as a weye to hem that goen forth.

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.